John Stewart: A personal appreciation
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| Author | R. A. W. Rhodes |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12915 |
EDITORIAL
John Stewart: A personal appreciation
I was a lecturer at the Institute for Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) between 1970 and 1975. It was the
unofficial staff college for senior officers in local government. It had two sides—development studies and British local
government. I was in development studies for no better reason than they advertised the job. My research was on
British local government. I had never taken a course in development studies, let alone taught such a course to others.
I was a fish out of water among “expats”who were colleagues from the Colonial Civil Service; used to display an
effortless superiority over the natives, I fear the expats saw me as a native. I did not fit in.
My immediate boss was Ken Pickering who ran the division as if he was still a District Commissioner. The flash
point was a patronage appointment to a lecturing post. I protested, politely at first, and suggested we advertise. He
refused and told me to mind my own business. I became bolshy and appealed his decision to Henry Maddick, head
of INLOGOV. It transpired that Henry agreed with me, although he never said so to my face. The job was advertised.
Ken summoned me to his office for some name-calling. I was “a snake in the grass.”I was on a two-year contract. He
would not renew it. I had opened my mouth to change feet. His decision shattered me. Enter John Stewart. He may
not have been riding a white horse, but he was my savior because he offered me a post in the British local govern-
ment side of INLOGOV.
INLOGOV provided a distinctive academic experience because it ran various, specialized short courses for local
government officers and a 10-week residential management course. I taught on the master's degree, short courses,
in-house courses, and, in my final year, on the 10-week course. I did not teach undergraduates, only postgraduates
and local government officers. The latter were a daunting group for a 28-year-old who had never worked in local
government. Most of them, most of the time, were kind—they listened. INLOGOV colleagues who were former local
government officers were less kind. I was criticized vigorously for talking too quickly and being too academic. Their
points were accurate, but I was not convinced they were criticisms. I thought the audience liked my enthusiasm and
welcomed my academic approach as a change from their usual fare. Watching my new boss, John Stewart, strength-
ened this conviction.
John was an idiosyncratic and inspiring speaker. He held his local government audiences in the palm of his hand
as he talked about such potentially uninspiring subjects as corporate management. In part, it was his appearance.
He threw on his suits and missed.
He walked with a limp, a hangover from polio in his youth.
He shaved but random patches of stubble would remain.
He would twist and break biros and paper clips in his fingers as he talked.
He would pace the floor, then twist himself around a chair or a table.
Received: 3 January 2023 Accepted: 14 January 2023
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12915
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which
permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no
modifications or adaptations are made.
© 2023 The Author. Public Administration published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Public Admin. 2023;101:373–375. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm 373
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